CITY WANT LLORENTE IN BUT HART’S STILL OUT OF FAVOUR
PEP GUARDIOLA appears to have ruled out the possibility of Joe Hart playing for Manchester City again. Hart was sent out on loan to Torino last summer but will still have two years left on his £120,000-a-week contract when his stint in Italy finishes at the end of this season. With neither Claudio Bravo nor Willy Caballero staking a strong claim for the position, Guardiola was asked if his view on Hart has changed. ‘I’m so happy with Willy and Claudio,’ said the City boss. It suggests that 29-year-old Hart’s 10-year career at City is over, which is bound to alert their Premier League rivals. Guardiola must decide which goalkeeper will play in tonight’s FA Cup fifth round replay. Caballero appears to have taken over as first choice but Bravo was recalled for the draw at Huddersfield. Like Hart, Caballero is facing an uncertain future, with Guardiola happy to let the Argentine’s contract run down until the end of the season before deciding on whether to offer him a new one. ‘There are five, six players out
of contract but they know the situation,’ added Guardiola, who wants to add a target man to his squad next season, with Swansea’s Fernando Llorente an early contender. City strikers Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus and Kelechi Iheanacho are similar in
stature and Guardiola wants the option of a different approach next season. At 6ft 4in, Llorente, 32, has the physical attributes Guardiola is looking for and the Spaniard has scored nine goals in his first season in the Premier League. Guardiola will not abandon his patient passing style but he has acknowledged that his team would benefit from having a Plan B next season. City go into tonight’s game after a break in Abu Dhabi, where Guardiola met owner Sheik Mansour for the first time. ‘He would like that I stay here for a long, long, long, long time,’ said Guardiola, ‘but of course it depends on the results. ‘They know, we know, all the managers and owners know that we are here because of the results. If the results are not good, we are going to be replaced by another.’